Physical activity and functional motor skills of primary school children in Estonia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the physical activity (PA) and functional motor skills in 7–9-year-old children, and to find out whether participation in organized sport enhances their motor skills and fulfils the requirements for PA. To assess PA, all 38 participants (18 boys, 20 girls; mean age 8.1±0.7 years) used accelerometer and accelerometer diary during one week. Average time per day spent in sedentary, light and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was calculated. To measure motor skills, MABC-2 was used. Also, parental PA and educational level were recorded with questionnaire. PA of children was not associated with their motor skills (p>0.05). Recommendations for daily PA were fulfilled by two children (5.3%), seven children (18.4%) did not meet the recommendations in any of the measured days. Both, boys and girls spent significantly more time in sedentary on schooldays than on weekend-days (F=23.122, p0.05) with PA or motor skills. Also, parent and child PA were not significantly correlated. Average PA of children is lower than recommended. However, PA was not correlated with motor skills. The higher was parental educational level, the higher were motor skills of their child.